"This is up to the people of South Carolina to decide, but if I were a citizen of South Carolina I'd be for taking it down," Kasich said Saturday night in a statement.

The shooting deaths Wednesday of nine people in a historic African-American church in Charleston laid bare the strong emotions about the flying the flag of the secessionist, pro-slavery Southern states in the Civil War.

For instance, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, considered a main rival to Kasich, said: "My position on how to address the Confederate flag is clear. In Florida we acted, moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged."

And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio reportedly said it's up to South Carolina to make the decision, not "outsiders."

President Barack Obama and civil rights leaders have called for the flag to come down as the nation grapples with Wednesday's murders. The man charged with the crimes, Dylann Storm Roof, held the Confederate flag in a photograph on a website and displayed the flags of defeated white-supremacist governments in South Africa on his Facebook page.

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2007 called for the flag's removal, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.